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Received May 4, 2017; Revised Aug 21, 2017; Accepted Aug 29, 2017
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1. Introduction
Dental implant therapy is considered an appropriate treatment for edentulous and partially dentulous patients since Dr. Brånemark began performing dental implant operations on edentulous patients in 1965. In addition, it has become the ideal method of oral rehabilitation after missing natural dentition and has been recognized as a reliable and predictable tool for dental reconstruction, necessitating that multiple factors are reached for long-term treatment success and esthetics.
Evaluation of circumferential bone loss around dental implants by using periapical radiographs has been frequently used in routine clinical practice to prevent treatment failure and ensure favorable long-term prognosis. This method of evaluation has been debated, where certain authors have reported bone reabsorption rates around dental implants: for example, Adell et al. [1] reported that radiographic crestal bone loss during the first year after abutment connection was 1.2 mm, with a mean vertical bone loss of <0.2 mm annually following function, in both mandible and maxilla. Subsequently, Albrektsson proposed that a dental implant can be considered successful if the peri-implant crestal bone loss in the first year is <1.5 mm, and the ongoing annual bone loss is <0.2 mm [2]. Moreover, findings from several other studies have indicated that the long-term results of endosseous implants primarily depend on preservation of bone support [3–7]. Therefore, the...